My New York Shopping Experience, Part 2: Where to Score Half Price Chanel

I know I was getting a little distracted thinking about all the different posts I want to write but I want to make sure I finish my New York shopping experience series. You guys know I am really bad at finishing series posts (my Morocco dress series was my finest hour!). So the first part of the post covers general fashion brands and department stores you can only access in New York so make sure you don’t miss that.

Fast and Budget Fashion

You know I am off fast fashion and havent actually bought any fast fashion items this year but take a look at these stores and if you like some of their items and really need them. Of course there are a lot of fast fashion stores but I only listed the ones you don’t have in London.

24. Target

I did run through the store just to get a feel of it since it was definitely on my list.

25. Express

I thought this was very similar to H&M. The stuff is nice enough but nothing particularly special I wanted to buy and break my fast fashion ban for thankfully.

26. Old Navy

The Consignment Stores

I definitely consider this the best part of the New York shopping experience. I havent really found these kind of stores in London – at least with the variety and extent of the stock that consignment stores in New York have. There are a lot of stores stocking second-hand designer items. Now when you think second-hand you usually think slightly of slightly dingy stores. Some of these stores maybe slightly dingy but most are gorgeously styled and curated. I cannot recommend them enough! The only con is that you need to go and see whats there and there is no guarantee you will get the bag you actually want. I didn’t but anything since none of the stores had the Celine bag I wanted.

27. The Real Real

This was originally started as an online store and they have finally established a physical store. It’s a beautifully done up store and any preconceived ideas of what a second-hand store looks like goes out of the window once you get to the store.

28. What Goes Around Comes Around

This is less Instagram friendly as compared to the Real Real store but the stock is of way better quantity and variety. They have a very good collection of Chanel clothes (and other clothes) but the bags are mostly focused on Hermes, Chanel and Louis Vuitton. They had no Celine bags and when I asked the lady there didn’t really clarify if they will have more coming into stock so maybe they only trade in these three brands.

29. Preloved

This store is just so beautifully curated and I had the most fun chatting with the lady at the store. We talked a little about our love for bags and her collection was gorgeous. Very good quality and some of the bags looked almost new. This store is around Mercer Street.

30. A Second Chance

This was probably the most dingy one out of the consignment stores but again, the collection was great. Also please note that except for the first picture from the Real Real (and the first picture in this post) none of the these stores allow you to take pictures so I don’t have any.

Thrift Stores

I probably don’t do thrift stores justice since I am too impatient but I know thrifting is really big in New York.

31. The Vintage Twin

This was the only thrift store I went to. If you want a denim jacket or classic Levis I would totally recommend thrift stores, especially this one.

Sample Sales

Like London, New York has a big sample sale market. Now of course, these are not really sample sales in the true sense but I guess it just sounds cooler marketing them as sample sales so that’s how its being done. I dropped into some sample sales but my general issue with size just didn’t help. I checked out following sample sales:

32. Equipment

33. Current Elliot

34. Joie

I was not familiar with this brand so went in to check it out. Similar to the two above and good quality.

35. Iro

Pop-ups

I was super lucky to be in New York during the Shopbop pop-up. The above few pictures are from the Shopbop pop-up. Also take a look at the videos of the pop-up event I put up on Instagram 1, 2 and 3.

The Outlet Malls

I don’t want to really talk about the outlet malls too much in details since I didn’t check them out myself (except Nordstrom Rack which I already talked about). Basically I didn’t really want to shop a lot so personally I didn’t think it would be a worth it for me. The best outlet malls are quite far off from the main city and quite expensive to travel to so you have to make it worth your while. So take a call and see if the amount you would shop would make it worth it. Now I personally am not a fa of outlet malls since the quality is inferior to what you get in the regular stores so do your research before you spent too much time and money going out there. This is a good list of all the outlet malls in and around New York.

I hope you guys enjoyed these posts about my New York Shopping experience. I also wrote a post about preparing for my New York trip. Please make sure you are following us on Instagram and of course we are on Facebook, Twitter and all the rest and would love to hear from you.

– Anisha